Sad news of a friend who lost a daughter today

[GusMcRae]

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13e8c9a5b721b6eb&attid=0.1&disp=attd&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_JJh6t1WAnryUUa5gj3YT5&sadet=1368159698479&sads=csun6hNx4yj6I_iBlWX2HO9K91c&sadssc=1

The wife of the pilot was the daughter of a fellow pilot and friend of mine from here. Daughter was around 40 yrs old.  t &P.
Not many details yet. I heard it on the news about 5:00, mutual friend of the father called me about 5:45. 
If anyone runs across details of the accident, please post a link.

[pigture perfect]

So sorry man.

[RNC]

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/22212903/mansfield-couple-dies-in-plane-crash-in-texas-hill-country

That one?  Looks like the plane was a rental?  That would explain why I hear that tail number on DFW approach all the time.

[GusMcRae]

http://www.kbtx.com/news/state/headlines/Couple-Dies-in-Fredericksburg-Plane-Crash-206908511.html

Sounding like weather contributed.  This article says it was foggy and drizzling at the time of the crash.
I've heard others around here say that there was some turbulent weather in the area about the time of the crash.
There's also a story going around that they clipped a tree during descent,,, but what that tells me is that he was being forced down under a ceiling so that he could try to maintain sight of the ground, or a wind shear pushed him down.  That's all that's being talked about here in the town where the wife of the pilot was raised, she has 2 brothers that both live here.  Her mother and father live here, although they're no longer married to each other. 
Pilot/husband was an only child.
Nobody is speculating as to who will raise the 8 year old daughter.  Good family, no doubt the daughter will be taken care of,,, just a bad deal that it won't be by her parents.  I can't imagine drawing the short stick and having to break the news to the little girl. 
Bad deal. 
Sure gets your attention when it hits this close to home.

[RNC]

Sorry man, looks like it was a pretty new airplane too.

And yes I agree the winds are often very powerful between 500 and 1000 AGL in the eastern half of the state.  It tends to even out and smooth up once you get above the ground heat turbulence, but I don't make a habit of flying low around north/central TX.  It's too rough down low.

[GusMcRae]

I pulled it up on FAA and flightaware (N6197H).  It was a 2008 model C-182,,, so yes,,, pretty dang new. 
On Flightaware, the graph at the bottom that shows speed and altitude,,,, those speeds for the last half or so of trip look more like the speeds of a C-150.  So, was there that strong of a headwind?  Engine trouble?  Slow flying to enjoy the scenery?  Slow flying to allow for weather to clear at Fredericksburg?  Very slow speeds for a 182.

[gotyacovered]

So very sorry to hear Gus.

Not much fire and not much of a debris field... IMC conditions... Spin? Or ran out of fuel/forced landing and stalled?

Seems like there should be more to the story. Looking at the rental website it looks to beG1000 equipped. Surely if it was VFR-->IMC he could pop the a/p on and keep her straight and level. RIP. Thoughts and prayers to all family and friends.

[RNC]

I haven't played with flightaware much so comparing my last flight (I had to duck down below a cloud layer from 9500 to 3500 around KHOT)...

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N8083Y/history/20130507/2025Z/KTKI/KORK

to this one...

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6197H/history/20130509/1430Z/KFWS/T82

Those speeds look awfully erratic to me.  From the METARs that day...

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/sa_parse-u.html

KAUS 091753Z 18011KT 8SM BKN026 BKN034 OVC041 25/20 A2994 RMK AO2 SLP129 T02500200 10261 20217 53001

Looks like two broken layers right under an overcast layer.  If it got stormy/gusty on him and the wind gusts were causing his speed inconsistency, and he tried to get down under the overcast layer only to find that it turned into another layer and then another layer, and he was heading to the highest square in that area of the state...

http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=30.243&lon=-98.909&zoom=10

...I would bet the weather got them.

[GusMcRae]

Everyone agrees it was weather and get-there-itis.  Pilots in the family as well agree, he had no business trying to land in that.

[gotyacovered]

Everyone agrees it was weather and get-there-itis.  Pilots in the family as well agree, he had no business trying to land in that.

scud running. dont do it.

sad.

[gotyacovered]

Prelim report: http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentReports/onyn2nix5wt5o2q0nydq0feh1/A05272013120000.pdf

[GusMcRae]

Link did not work for me...

[GusMcRae]

I went to NTSB website and found it.

Could 2nd guess his decision making process 9 ways from Sunday.

The pilot's mother has now suffered a small stroke. Sounding like the little girl is going to wind up here with uncle and his young family.

[gotyacovered]

Link did not work for me...

sorry about that, i snagged it off the red board... i saw where you posted over there... nice to see a friendly face... i am gotyacovered over there too....

[GusMcRae]

I saw the father/father-in-law of the pilot's wife/pilot last week, first time I've seen him since the crash.  I did not bring it up, but in a round about way, the topic came up.  Long story short, he encouraged me to stay current, as he felt like that was a major factor in the crash, he knows that the NTSB report is going to come back as pilot error.

Also, another friend of mine who is the deceased's uncle by marriage, said that the parents received a report from Fredericksburg Airport (evidently that is a requirement), which said that 15 miles or minutes out, pilot was told he was too low,,,, he responded.  Then again closer in they told him he was too low, but he never responded.
The report also said that they were both alive when the plane caught fire.  The girl's seatbelt was unlatched like she was trying to get out of the plane. 
Tough news for a parent to read. 

[RNC]

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20130509X70449&key=1

[gotyacovered]

ugh. not a fun way to go. RIP.

The carry-thru cable for the ailerons was separated in the fuselage and the cable ends were frayed, consistent with overload separation. The left aileron actuation cable was continuous from the cockpit control to the aileron quadrant in the left wing. The left aileron carry-thru cable was still attached to the quadrant in the left wing. The right aileron actuation cable was attached to the cockpit control and was overload separated in numerous locations. But the outboard end of the cable remained attached to the aileron quadrant in the right wing. The right end of the aileron carry-thru cable was not identified to due to impact damage.

i guess this was a cancel instruments and scud run to aerodrome?

At 1311, the pilot canceled his IFR flight plan when he was approximately 3-4 miles from the Stonewall VOR (approximately 14 miles from the airport). The controller acknowledge the cancellation and approved a frequency change. There was no further communications or transmissions between the pilot and the ARTCC.

Gus--do you think this is what father/FIL was referring to? PIC was thinking... 'not able to shoot the approach proficiently/confidently so i'll cancel and squeeze in VFR?

[RNC]

Don't think it was a towered field, so canceling as he started the procedure wouldn't denote anything out of the ordinary.

[GusMcRae]

Gus--do you think this is what father/FIL was referring to? PIC was thinking... 'not able to shoot the approach proficiently/confidently so i'll cancel and squeeze in VFR?

I think so.  He was instrument rated, but pretty rusty on recent IFR procedure.  If it was definitely IFR conditions, then why in the world would you not try to follow the procedure and if at missed approach decision time, no runway in sight, do the missed approach procedure and try again, or climb up above the soup and go find a better place to land.  Just bad decisions.  Wake up call for the rest of us rooks. 

[gotyacovered]

Don't think it was a towered field, so canceling as he started the procedure wouldn't denote anything out of the ordinary.

sure would. it also speaks clearly to me, in this case: wast proficient, knew it, didn't trust instruments and attempted a scud run instead of shooting the approach.

if in IMC, especially to minima, he would not cancel until on the ground/down and clear via phone/flight services. you only cancel when you enter VFR conditions and outside class alpha or are approved for the visual (and in VFR conditions). a lot of the time they dont cancel unless its VFR--this would not have been one of those times... WX=1.5viz/800bkn/1300ovc

91.153(F) deal directly with non-towered airports. says if able to maintiain VFR they should cancel in the air, if wx doesnt permit that they are to contact via phone. they want you to cancel in the air so it frees the airspace for others...

[bvillepig]

So sorry to hear Gus. Our regards.

It is very easy to let your proficiency and still be current.

[OldCoot]

Belated prayers. 

Can someone tell me what do you do if you are only VFR rated and all of a sudden get into a nasty IFR scenario?  Also if you are VFR and don't file a flight plan, what keeps you from running into other planes who didn't fly a flight plan?  It would seem to me that every person in the air should file a plan and keep to it. 

I don't know what I'm talking about much so these may be stupid questions.  I only had a few lessons from my CFI roomie in college, but I did get to fly with him a lot.  At 21 years old and in college, my roomie had a lot of hours because his dad was a retired officer and they always had their own planes.  He was  very experienced young man and knew what he was doing.  It was pretty fun, we'd fly from Arkadelphia all over the south going to other colleges for martial arts tournaments.

[gotyacovered]

Belated prayers. 

Can someone tell me what do you do if you are only VFR rated and all of a sudden get into a nasty IFR scenario?  Also if you are VFR and don't file a flight plan, what keeps you from running into other planes who didn't fly a flight plan?  It would seem to me that every person in the air should file a plan and keep to it. 

I don't know what I'm talking about much so these may be stupid questions.  I only had a few lessons from my CFI roomie in college, but I did get to fly with him a lot.  At 21 years old and in college, my roomie had a lot of hours because his dad was a retired officer and they always had their own planes.  He was  very experienced young man and knew what he was doing.  It was pretty fun, we'd fly from Arkadelphia all over the south going to other colleges for martial arts tournaments.

VFR into IMC has killed a lot of people. But the solution is pretty simple, don't put yourself into that position. Part of that solution is in your question. Every pilot should at a minimum, when the weather is not perfect or there is convective activity, call WXBRIEF get a good briefing, and file a VFR flight plan. most dont end up filing VFR flight plans anymore bc you can request VFR advisories (flight following) which is the same facility the guys on instrument flight plans are talking to. Most importantly it's about staying current/proficient. The airplane doesn't quit flying VFR into IMC, usually the pilot doesn't want to confess their sins to the proper facility that can help them, and its a fatal mistake.

[GusMcRae]

Ditto what gotya said.  Fly with plenty of fuel reserves.  If your destination is overcast less than 1000' AGL, fly somewhere else that has VFR conditions and land. 

I'm guilty of punching through a layer, or finding a clear hole in the clouds to get under a layer that AWOS was reporting slightly less than 1000' and proceeding with landing at a non-towered airport.  The few times I have done it, I wasn't proud of it, and it reminds me of how I have got to get back into this instrument training and get it knocked out.  They won't let you do that at a towered airport with just a VFR rating unless it was a legit emergency. 
At a non-towered airport, if you find yourself in that position of low fuel or some other emergency and must land, be very diligent with announcing your position on the unicom frequency.  Should always be announcing position in clear conditions as well, but especially if the layer is borderline VFR and you're in a bind to get on the ground.  And if you're in such thick soup that you don't know what your position is, then you've gotten yourself into an unfortunate situation.   
If able, climb, get some altitude, get some help on the radio, find some clear air.   

Lots of planes fly around without a flight plan or even getting flight following.  Not just trainers and pilots out boring holes in the sky close to home base,,,, but cross country flyers too.  On flight following, you can hear lots of ATC announcing traffic to those of us on the freqencey, of planes that are not in contact with ATC. 

[RNC]

Belated prayers. 

Can someone tell me what do you do if you are only VFR rated and all of a sudden get into a nasty IFR scenario?  Also if you are VFR and don't file a flight plan, what keeps you from running into other planes who didn't fly a flight plan?  It would seem to me that every person in the air should file a plan and keep to it. 

I don't know what I'm talking about much so these may be stupid questions.  I only had a few lessons from my CFI roomie in college, but I did get to fly with him a lot.  At 21 years old and in college, my roomie had a lot of hours because his dad was a retired officer and they always had their own planes.  He was  very experienced young man and knew what he was doing.  It was pretty fun, we'd fly from Arkadelphia all over the south going to other colleges for martial arts tournaments.

In addition to what Gotya and Gus said, mode S transponders these days will give you traffic info if so equipped, so in TIS (traffic information service) areas, primarily large cities where traffic is busy, you get a visual blip on your GPS screen, just as a controller would see.  ADS-B extends that even further by basically providing the same info plus visual weather info with what will soon be nationwide coverage.  So in that respect if you have such equipment, the computer tells you.

Here's what it looks like on Garmin equipment...

http://www8.garmin.com/products/gtx330/

And on the most basic level, legally you are supposed to fly at certain altitudes depending on your heading.  If you're going in any easterly direction, you fly on odd numbers.  If you're going in a westerly direction, you fly on the even multiples.  That's further separated by the even thousands for IFR (5000, 7000, 9000, etc.) and 500s for VFR (5500, 7500, 9500, etc.).

I personally don't fly anywhere without VFR following, unless they're so busy they cut me off, no reason to.  It's there, it's a good tool, might as well use it.  I'll fly over a solid layer as long as the controller tells me that it breaks up before my destination, which is legal to do.  It's also legal to fly through precip as long as you're not in the cloud it's coming from.  I'll do that as well if it's just an isolated shower.  Probably wouldn't do those without a reliable autopilot, though... 

The autopilot is the kicker.  I wouldn't even like to make a habit of flying at night VFR without one.  There are old coots everywhere who hand fly IFR in raggedy old airplanes but that isn't really wise, imo.  Autopilots are not laziness devices, they're safety devices.  The bottom line is there's no way that a human can fly the plane as accurately as the computer can, especially when the human has the radio to deal with, the engine instruments to monitor, passengers moving around and making racket, and all sorts of other distractions.  The workload on your brain is gonna be infinitely higher without the autopilot.